Lone Visit
by Spinnerweb
Summary: Avan didn't think Aliasse thought of him as more than a friend, but a lone visit by her showed she had other ideas.


It was Sunday, which meant a slow day for Avan. After travelling around Gallia aiding in its reconstruction effort for a year, many newly-established military academies in Gallia had asked him to visit, check the state of things and make a drill pattern for the cadets there, so despite his mother complaining that she hadn't had her sons to her long enough (she still hadn't gotten over Leon's death, Avan thought) he had started another round-Gallia trip. None of those academies matched up to Lanseal, of course. He'd become used to living on the road, anyhow, and that was good. He didn't have far too much money, but it was enough to get by comfortably - granted he was able to find a cheap inn with good food in every city he went to.

After preparing for the academy he was visiting tomorrow and spending the rest of the day until evening playing soccer with Pete (Pete had offered to help demonstrate Avan's planned drills for the next academy so he was staying in the same inn) , he picked up the day's newspaper and started reading Lotte's news report. Lotte had become a successful news reporter, although her undisguised observations in her reports sometimes caused controversies.

_Dec. 21, 1939_

_Tomorrow is December 22, 1939 - the 'Day of Deliverance' for us Gallians to mark the official end of the oppressive rule of House Gassenarl. Already everyone is getting ready for the Second Independence Day as some people have come to call it..._

"Wait a second," Avan said aloud, his head snapping up. "Today is December 21?" Instantly the letter from Aliasse that Jarde had brought him a week ago flashed in his mind - she was going to visit him today. Cosette had been really busy working as a doctor, which meant Aliasse would often be alone at home so she'd decided to visit him. It was possible that Cosette had indirectly sent Aliasse to check up on him; she seemed really keen on how he was doing nowadays.

He hadn't even cleaned his room and the day was already here! Inwardly cursing himself he got to picking up all the clothes and trash he could and shoved them into his cupboard just as a knock came on the door. Sighing disappointedly - his room was still a mess - he opened the door and almost gasped.

"Hi," Aliasse said.

"Oh, hi," Avan said. "Sorry about the state of my room, I forgot you were coming over," he added. His near-gasp was because Aliasse looked more beautiful than he'd ever remembered her. Because of his travels he rarely, if ever, got to see her and she was no longer the childish, sometimes annoying girl she had been at Lanseal. Her hair seemed longer and she didn't look like a child anymore, unlike then when she had seemed much younger than her age.

"Well, I'm glad to see you're finally starting to look your age," Avan teased as she entered his room. But he stumbled over his words a little because her beauty took his breath away again. Avan rarely, if ever, cared what others were wearing and Cosette probably wouldn't think much of what Aliasse wore, but her simple, no-design shirt and equally simple blue jeans only enhanced her beauty for Avan. Shaking his head to stop staring at her before she noticed, he said, "How's Cosette?"

"The hospital's keeping her way too busy. I think she might even start to regret becoming a doctor," Aliasse said. Avan couldn't help but notice how brash she sounded, which he found attractive. He slapped himself inwardly. What was wrong with him?

Aliasse didn't show it, but she'd noticed (and secretly, had been hoping) that Avan was looking at her differently than he had at school. She was aware that she had annoyed him sometimes at school, and injured him more than once, so if he found her attractive she certainly didn't mind. And already she felt a mixture of excitement and anxiety as she got ready to tell him the real reason she had visited.

She decided not to tell him today. She wished she wasn't so nervous. She would rarely ever get a chance like this, and now she was going to let it go. Oh well, no need to waste time on that now.

"Uh... wanna play soccer?" she asked.

Although Avan had just spent the day doing that, he agreed readily because of the face she made, and they played right into and somewhat beyond the night. Finally Aliasse yawned widely.

"I'm sleepy," she said. "I don't think there's going to be a train back now, so can I stay in your room?"

"My... room?" Avan said hesitantly. "Why don't I see if I can get you another room?"

"I don't want to strain your finances, Hardins," she said. "And I am so sleepy I don't want the hassle of getting another room." With these words she staggered back to the inn and tripped over their football. Avan barely caught her.

"Do you always act like a drunk when you're sleepy?" he asked worriedly. When she nodded, he smiled. "You're still a kid inside, aren't you?" he asked. She giggled.

Back in Avan's room, Aliasse staggered onto the bed and started pulling her pants off.

"Do you mind?" Avan half-yelled, feeling slightly panicked. Why did she have to take her clothes off in front of him?

"No, I don't mind," Aliasse said, testing the pillow. "Besides, it's not like you haven't seen me in my swimsuit before."

Avan couldn't help noticing her legs and how sexy they looked. Looking away, he said, "Aliasse, you're not a kid anymore."

Aliasse swung her legs off the bed and walked over to him. It was obvious he was attracted to her. This was the moment. She'd waited so long.

"It was really hard for me to break away and convince Cosette to let me visit you," she said. "There are still things she won't let me do."

"Like what, smoking?" Avan said, noticing how close she was to him.

Aliasse put her hands on his shoulders. "I'm not that wild. Things like... kissing a boy." She drew herself even closer, so that their bodies were touching.

"Avan..." she said. "Ever since we were at Lanseal... I've been in love with you."

That was all she said before she smashed her lips against his and Avan returned the kiss with the same eagerness, a feeling of excitement in his chest despite how suddenly it had happened. He couldn't exactly recall how, but they ended up sprawled on his bed, Aliasse on top of him. His shirt had become unbuttoned by now, though he didn't exactly remember when. All he knew now was that Aliasse and he were kissing fiercely with their arms around each other. She moaned in the kiss as he slid his hands underneath her shirt to feel more of her warm, soft skin, but her moan turned into a gasp when he dug his fingernails into her sides. Before things got more passionate though, there came a knock on the door.

"Avan, bro!" Pete called. "You awake?"

Avan and Aliasse froze, Avan remembering that the door was unlocked and praying inwardly that Pete wouldn't open the door. He pulled his lips away from Aliasse's (with difficulty) and said, "Can it wait till morning, Pete? I'm kind of getting ready to sleep." He started contemplating hiding Aliasse under the bed.

"All right, I just wanted to let you know you left your soccer ball out in the street. I'll keep it in my room until you take it, okay?" saying this Pete walked off.

Avan visibly deflated with relief. Aliasse looked annoyed that they'd been so rudely interrupted but Avan was just grateful that they weren't caught.

Wordlessly Aliasse slid off him onto one side of the bed. They wouldn't have any problem sharing a bed now, at least. She snuggled her head into his chest.

"Avan?" she said, her voice muffled.

"Hm?" he grunted, already half asleep.

"I'm kind of glad Pete interrupted us, really. It brought us back to our senses."

"Yeah," he said.

"Avan?" she said again.

"Yeah?"

"You never said if you loved me or not."

_Like I didn't just prove it, _Avan thought, but he said "I love you" anyway.

"I'm not happy with that," she insisted. "Say you're _in_ love with me."

Avan shrugged and said, "I'm in love with you."

She pecked him on the cheek one last time before they fell asleep in each other's arms.

**(A/N: I had this idea when thinking how an Avan-Aliasse pairing instead of Avan-Cosette would be like the Harry-Ginny pairing instead of Harry-Hermione in the Harry Potter books. Just so everyone knows, this will be the last piece of fan fiction I write till my exams end around mid-April. I meant to make it a multi-chapter story, but I decided not to make it a soap opera and keep it a one-shot. I hope it's good.)**


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